22 Chapter 22: The Usual Place
Roy Jones disappeared from this world, devoured cleanly by Venom in two bites.
Venom, who hadn't eaten brains in a long time, was very happy and pleased. Maverick, on the other hand, sat pale-faced on the bathroom toilet, lost in thought.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Venom turned to Maverick, noticing his condition.
Seeing Venom speak, Maverick immediately raised his hand and said, "Don't talk to me, let me catch my breath."
After all, he had just devoured a person in two bites. Although Venom had weakened his senses as promised, he still didn't feel quite comfortable.
It took Maverick a while to adjust his state with deep breaths, and his complexion gradually returned to normal.
Seeing Maverick's condition improve, Venom's uneasy heart gradually calmed down. After all, it had promised that Maverick wouldn't feel a thing, even wagering its chocolate on it.
Seeing Venom's cautious and timid demeanor, Maverick didn't say anything. He just walked out of the bathroom, sat on the sofa, and said while drinking tea, "Don't worry, I won't deduct your chocolate. Although it still feels a bit strange, it's not unbearable."
"Hehe, I knew you'd be fine," Venom replied with a grin. "Here, have a piece of chocolate to cheer up."
Maverick took the chocolate handed to him by Venom and took a bite. The rich and mellow aroma instantly filled his mouth, permeating every corner.
It must be said that chocolate was indeed delicious, especially the brand and variety carefully selected by Venom, a chocolate connoisseur.
Before Maverick could finish the last piece of chocolate, the computer upstairs started signaling that it had found something.
Maverick and Venom glanced at each other, then quickly ran upstairs.
On the computer screen, there was a photo of a man with a crew cut, seemingly inside a convenience store. He looked very similar to the photo of Rick Frey taken at the time he was identified.
"This guy is going to find Rick Frey. This convenience store is where Rick Frey was last identified. Now he's been identified here too. It's quite interesting," Maverick said to Venom as they looked at the convenience store photo on the screen.
"Perhaps they want to be together, even in death," Venom replied sarcastically.
They didn't waste any time and jumped out of the window, with Venom controlling the body, heading towards their destination at the fastest speed.
After all, Rick Frey was already dead. If Paul Mark saw the condition of the basement, he would probably understand Maverick's current situation to some extent. Maverick figured that once Paul hid away somewhere, it would be troublesome to find him.
"Damn, this basement is really far," Paul Mark got out of his car and walked towards the nearby convenience store.
He had come here in a hurry and didn't bring much with him. Now he was desperately thirsty, and he had smoked the last of his cigarettes on the way. It was a good opportunity to buy another pack.
The convenience store, which didn't seem small in scale, only had a greasy middle-aged man with a bulging belly and messy hair sitting in a chair, reading a magazine.
As Paul Mark entered, they glanced at each other briefly, then averted their gazes.
Paul Mark took out a bottle of water from the fridge and gulped down half of it after unscrewing the cap.
"Ah~" The sensation of replenishing water made him relax completely.
He then took out two more bottles of water and went to the counter to pay.
"Give me a pack of Camel too," Paul Mark nodded towards the shelf behind.
The middle-aged boss stood up from his chair upon hearing this, then accurately retrieved a pack of Camels from under the counter.
"That'll be seven dollars and fifty cents," the middle-aged boss said as he kept his gaze fixed on Paul Mark.
"No need for change," Paul Mark took out a ten-dollar bill from his wallet and placed it on the counter, then grabbed the items and left the convenience store.
As the boss saw Paul Mark leave in his car, he finally lifted his hand from under the counter.
Having run this shop for so many years, he could instantly tell what kind of person someone was just by looking at them.
From the moment Paul Mark entered, the boss knew he was probably a gang member, and not one to be trifled with. So, he remained vigilant with an unchanged expression throughout.
His hand had been gripping a handgun under the counter the whole time. If anything went wrong, he would immediately grab the gun and open fire.
Luckily, everything was normal, and no unusual incidents occurred. This gang member turned out to be unexpectedly generous. He didn't seem like a low-level thug, always looking to take advantage of others and unwilling to suffer any losses.
"Young people nowadays are useless. I, an old guy, have to sit here myself," the boss muttered to himself as he lay down on his chair.
Originally, he had hired a young man to help him watch the store, so he could have less to worry about. However, the young man suddenly quit two days ago, reportedly because he encountered a goon and feared for his safety.
Thinking about this, the boss shook his head and then picked up a more sensational magazine to read.
After purchasing his items, Paul Mark continued driving, as the address of the basement was not far from here. He would soon find out what the hell was going on with that guy who had been ignoring his calls.
The car came to a steady stop on the side of the road. Paul Mark opened the car door and frowned at the dilapidated house nearby.
The place was desolate indeed. Except for him and Rick Frey hiding here, probably no one else would come.
After figuring out where Rick Frey's basement was located, he lifted his foot and headed over there.
The stairs leading to the basement were dimly lit, shrouded in darkness and a chilly breeze mixed with a hint of stench. Paul Mark couldn't help but pinch his nose and furrow his brow.
"Is that damn guy hoarding heaps of trash in there?"
"Oh! Damn it! Where did all these rats come from?"
Paul Mark kicked away the scattered rats at the entrance and then pulled open the already somewhat tattered door.
As he opened the door, many startled flies flew out, and the air was filled with an extremely disgusting stench that hit him in the face, almost making him nauseous.
When he reluctantly turned his head to look inside, he only saw a headless corpse lying on the basement floor.
The body had been occupied by rats and flies, and the rotting flesh emitted a foul odor, with many maggots wriggling around.
The floor next to the corpse had been soaked with blood, and the dried blood presented a deep dark red color, emitting the peculiar smell of blood.
The scene in the basement, combined with the suffocating stench, made Paul Mark feel dizzy, almost passing out.
Just as he was about to turn around and rush out to catch his breath, a black figure appeared in front of him out of nowhere.
°°°
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